Electric

Pa. Launches Fleet Electrification Pilot

September 15, 2017
• by Staff

Photo courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of General Services

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania launched a hybrid/electric vehicle pilot. The program will consist of three types of vehicles: the 2017 Chevrolet Volt hybrid, battery-electric 2017 Ford Focus, and plug-in hybrid 2017 Ford Fusion Energi.

25 vehicles will be involved in the pilot program. Eight vehicles were purchased by the Department of Conservation Natural Resources and 17 were purchased by the Department of General Services (DGS). Four of the DGS’ vehicles will be assigned to the Department of Environmental Protection.

DGS has recommended that agencies use the vehicles as pool cars, which will allow more employees to experience the technology. It will also look at leasing the cars out to agencies that express interest.

The pilot will last 42-60 months, giving the commonwealth the opportunity to identify the sustainability, operational ease, maintenance, and resale value of hybrid and electric vehicles.

At the end of the program, the commonwealth will make recommendations to develop policies for hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles to determine how many vehicles are needed in the fleet, how they should be assigned, and how long they should be kept in the fleet.

Working in partnership with the nonprofit carsharing service Hourcar and Xcel Energy, the city of St. Paul, Minn., applied for federal funding through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.